Ephesians 5:7-10
“Therefore do not become partners with them; for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light (for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true), and find out what is pleasing to the Lord.”
Paul continues to draw a contrast between two very different ways of living and working. The contrast in this passage is between light and darkness. Light in scripture refers to truth and righteousness. Darkness refers to falsehood and evil. To live as children of light means to be directed by what is good and right and true.
Paul says that we formerly were darkness. We were spiritually blind and didn’t see God’s glory and truth. We didn’t sense our need for the Savior, because we thought we were good enough to go to heaven, and we didn’t understand the holiness and justice of God.
But, when God saved us, he opened the eyes of our understanding so that we saw “the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ” (2 Cor. 4:6). We saw our true condition as guilty sinners, and we also saw the saving grace of Jesus and his death on the cross to cover all our sins. We had a new understanding of God’s Word and a new desire to know God and his truth.
Paul tells us to “walk as children of light and find out what is pleasing to the Lord.” Our new nature in Christ loves the light, and it seeks truth and rightness. When we live and work as children of light, we study the scriptures to gain a better understanding of the Lord’s standards and what is pleasing to him.
Our old nature, on the other hand, is attracted to the darkness. It has no interest in truth or what is right. It rejects God’s standards. To live in darkness means to be directed by ignorance, falsehood, and unrighteousness.
May we reject the darkness, deceptions, and seductions of the old nature, and may we walk in the light of God’s truth.
“Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, ‘I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.’“ (John 8:12)
